Ants can't feel pain

A recent study conducted across three of the UK's major research universities has revealed some surprising results about insect brains.

Most notable amongst the findings was the revelation that ants are chemically unable to feel pain. However, the brain chemistry of the insect is such that they can recall faces and feel hatred, making them capable of revenge.

The first Mayor of Hollywood

The Los Angeles neighbourhood of Hollywood has a vivid, and occasionally less than respectable, past. The Mayor of Hollywood, on the other hand, is a little known historical oddity.

For a long time, until quite recently, Hollywood was not officially a place. A collection of studies marked the boundaries of the area that became known by that name. It was these studios that elected and created the office of the first Mayor of Hollywood.

Commercially, these studios were at war with one another but they understood that their industry rested on their mutual success. So it was that they decided an official with no commitments to any particular studio would be useful for official functions, and created the Mayor of Hollywood.

The odd thing is that this position was held by three separate individuals before Hollywood officially became a place, making the original Mayor of Hollywood the only mayor whose constituency didn't exist at time of appointment.

A common misconception about Fiji

People can often be heard referring to a particular small South Pacific island as Fiji. This is in fact a misnomer.

Fiji, historically, referred to a group of islands. The name literally translates as meaning 'empire' and the island know considered to be Fiji was the administrative capital of the empire, which at one point spread from Hawaii to the southern island of Japan, and maintained a powerful international trade presence.

Referring to this island as Fiji is roughly the same as calling Germany 'Prussia', after the empire it was once part of.